High optical power light conversion device using a phosphor element with solder attachment

ABSTRACT

A light generator comprises a light conversion device and a light source arranged to apply a light beam to the light conversion element. The light conversion device includes an optoceramic or other solid phosphor element comprising one or more phosphors embedded in a ceramic, glass, or other host, a metal heat sink, and a solder bond attaching the optoceramic phosphor element to the metal heat sink. The optoceramic phosphor element does not undergo cracking in response to the light source applying a light beam of beam energy effective to heat the optoceramic phosphor element to the phosphor quenching point.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/265,117 filed Dec. 9, 2015 and titled “HIGH OPTICAL POWER LIGHTCONVERSION DEVICE USING A PHOSPHOR ELEMENT WITH GLASS HOST”. U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/265,117 filed Dec. 9, 2015 isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/232,702 filed Sep. 25, 2015 and titled “HIGH OPTICAL POWER LIGHTCONVERSION DEVICE USING AN OPTOCERAMIC PHOSPHOR ELEMENT WITH SOLDERATTACHMENT”. U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/232,702 filed Sep. 25,2015 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The following relates to the optical arts, phosphor arts, wavelengthconversion arts, and related arts, and to optoelectronic, photonic, andlike applications using same such as (but not limited to) projectiondisplays (e.g. digital light processing, DLP), automotive lighting, andso forth.

Phosphor devices are known for converting light wavelength, usuallydown-converting from a shorter wavelength to one or more longerwavelengths. In a common approach, phosphor materials are dispersed in atransparent or translucent binder material such as epoxy, silicone, orso forth. The phosphor is energized, or “pumped” by a laser or otherpump light source to emit phosphorescence. The phosphor device may bestatic, or may be configured as a phosphor wheel in which the phosphoris disposed near the outer rim of a rotating wheel. The phosphor wheeldesign advantageously can provide a time sequence of different colors(or more generally different spectra) by using different phosphors indifferent phosphor arc segments. Periods of zero emission can also beprovided by leaving arced gaps between phosphor arc segments. Such awheel can be used, for example, to provide sequential red, green, andblue light for a Digital Light Processing (DLP) projector or other DLPdisplay device.

A problem arises for high optical power applications in that bindermaterials typically used in phosphors are susceptible to thermal damagedue to heating by a high power pump laser. For example, in a typicaldown-conversion task in which a blue or ultraviolet laser is convertedto white light (or to yellowish light that blends with blue pump laserlight to form white light), the laser power may be on the order of 25watts or higher, leading to significant heating.

A solution to this problem is to replace the binder material with aceramic material, i.e. using an optoceramic phosphor. Typical ceramicmaterials are manufactured by sintering a mixture of powdered basematerial, binder, and stabilizer at elevated temperature, and optionallyunder elevated pressure. Other manufacturing processes such as chemicalvapor deposition (CVD) or chemical reactions may be incorporated intothe ceramic manufacturing process. For an optoceramic phosphor, the basematerial is chosen to include the desired phosphor component(s), and themixture and sintering are designed to produce host material that isoptically transmissive over the operational spectrum (including both thepump light and the phosphorescence). Ceramic materials are denser than aconventional phosphor binder material such as epoxy or silicone, and anoptoceramic phosphor is typically thermally resistant at least up to thesintering temperature which is usually at least several hundred degreesCelsius, and may be as high as 1000° C. or more depending upon thesintering process. Consequently, optoceramic phosphors are expected tobe thermally stable when pumped by a high power laser.

Some commercially available optoceramic phosphors include yttriumaluminum garnet (YAG), cerium-doped YAG (YAG:Ce), lutetium YAG (LuYAG),silicate-based phosphors, silicon-aluminum-oxynitride (SiAlON)phosphors, or so forth embedded in a ceramic host such as such aspolycrystalline alumina (Al₂O₃, PCA), lanthana-doped yttria(Y₂O₃—La₂O₃), yttrium aluminum garnet (Y₃Al₅O₁₂), magnesium aluminatespinel (MgAl₂O₄), dysprosia (Dy₂O₃), aluminum oxynitride (Al₂₃O₂₇N₅),aluminum nitride (AlN), or so forth. See, e.g. Raukas et al., “CeramicPhosphors for Light Conversion in LEDs”, ECS Journal of Solid StateScience and Technology, vol. 2 no. 2, pages R3168-76 (2013).

Some improvements are disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In accordance with some disclosed embodiments, a light conversion devicecomprises: an optoceramic phosphor element comprising one or morephosphors embedded in a ceramic host; a metal heat sink; and a solderbond attaching the optoceramic phosphor element to the metal heat sink.

In accordance with some disclosed embodiments, a light conversion devicecomprises a phosphor element comprising one or more phosphors embeddedin a solid host element, a metal heat sink, and a solder bond attachingthe phosphor element to the metal heat sink. In some embodiments thephosphor element comprises one or more phosphors embedded in a solidglass host element.

In accordance with some disclosed aspects, a light generator comprises alight conversion device as set forth in one of the two immediatelypreceding paragraphs, and a light source arranged to apply a light beamto the light conversion element. The optoceramic phosphor element doesnot undergo cracking in response to the light source applying a lightbeam of beam energy effective to heat the optoceramic phosphor elementto the phosphor quenching point.

In accordance with some disclosed embodiments, a method of fabricating alight conversion device comprises: depositing a solderable metal stackon a back side of an optoceramic phosphor element comprising one or morephosphors embedded in a ceramic host; and attaching the optoceramicphosphor element to a metal heat sink by soldering the solderable metalstack to the heat sink.

In accordance with some disclosed embodiments, a method is disclosed offabricating a light conversion device. The method comprises depositing asolderable metal stack on a back side of a phosphor element comprisingone or more phosphors embedded in a solid host element, and attachingthe phosphor element to a metal heat sink by soldering the solderablemetal stack to the heat sink.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a phosphor wheel including six phosphor arc segments.Section S-S of FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of a portion of one of thephosphor elements and its solder attachment to the metal wheel.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of Section S-S of FIG. 1 (left side) and aflow chart diagrammatically indicating principal manufacturingoperations (right side).

FIG. 3 shows a variant embodiment in which the heat sink (e.g. metalwheel of FIG. 1) has a recess shaped and sized to receive at least thesolder attachment and optionally a lower portion of the phosphorelement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein, and as is conventional in the art, terms such as“optical spectrum”, “optical”, “wavelength”, “frequency”, “light”,“light beam”, and so forth are not limited to the visible spectrum butrather for a given filter may extend into, or reside entirely within,the infrared and/or ultraviolet spectral regions.

Contrary to the expectation that optoceramic phosphors are expected tobe thermally stable when pumped by a high power laser, the inventorshave found that in practice an optoceramic phosphor undergoesdestructive failure as the output of the high-power pump laser is rampedup. Specifically, a static optoceramic phosphor element mounted on aheat sink using adhesive or thermal paste undergoes destructive crackingduring high power pump laser ramp-up.

As disclosed herein, the inventors have found that this catastrophiccracking failure mode can be overcome by employing a solder connectionof the optoceramic phosphor to a heat sink (e.g. Al or Cu). With thesolder attachment, the pump laser power could be ramped up to pump powerhigh enough to produce phosphor quenching without cracking theoptoceramic phosphor element. Without being limited to any particulartheory of operation, it is believed that the catastrophic failure modeis due to insufficient heat transfer out of the optoceramic phosphor,either in terms of the thermal resistance of the attachment or in termsof thermal reactance of the attachment (i.e. delay before heat transferramps up), and the solder attachment improves the heat transfer throughthe attachment sufficiently to overcome the catastrophic crackingfailure mode. In view of this, it is contemplated to employ otherattachment bonds, besides a solder bond, that provide the requisite heattransfer properties. For example, it is contemplated to replace thesolder bond with a bond formed by sintering a powder or paste of silver(Ag) nanoparticles in an organic thinner (to provide uniformdispersion). The sintering is suitably performed at a temperature belowthe silver melting temperature, e.g. at ˜250° C. in some embodimentsalthough the optimal process temperature depends on factors such as Agnanoparticle size, density, and average surface area. While thesintering is occurring, slight pressure may optionally be applied,and/or the sintering may optionally be performed in a controlledatmosphere. After sintering, the silver will be operable to a muchhigher temperature than the sintering temperature. Without being limitedto any particular theory of operation, the bonding process in thisapproach is believed to be attributable to an atomic diffusionmechanism.

More generally, as disclosed herein a solder connection is used toattach a solid phosphor element to a heat sink (e.g. Al or Cu). Thesolder attachment is expected to improve the heat transfer through theattachment sufficiently to overcome the catastrophic cracking or otherthermal failure mode. In view of this, it is contemplated to employother attachment bonds, besides a solder bond, that provide therequisite heat transfer properties.

The solder bond approach disclosed herein is expected to providebenefits for various types of high-temperature phosphor elements, suchas single-crystal or polycrystalline phosphor elements, glass phosphorelements, or so forth, in which the phosphor is incorporated into acrystal, glass, or other solid host material. The solder bond approachdisclosed herein is expected to provide similar benefits for other typesof high-temperature phosphor elements, such as single-crystal orpolycrystalline phosphor elements in which the phosphor is incorporatedinto a crystal having high thermal stability during the crystal growthprocess.

FIG. 1 diagrammatically shows a phosphor wheel 10 including a metal diskor “wheel” 12 made of copper, a copper alloy, an aluminum alloy, or soforth. One or more optoceramic phosphor elements, e.g. arc segments 14,are attached to an outer perimeter of the wheel 12, that is, areattached at or near the outer rim of the wheel 12. The metal disk orwheel 12 thus serves as both a carrying component and as a heat sink forthe optoceramic phosphor arc segments 14. The illustrative optoceramicphosphor arc segments 14 are geometrically advantageous design thatminimizes the amount of optoceramic phosphor material while enablingphosphor coverage of the entire wheel circumference. The illustrativephosphor wheel 10 includes six optoceramic phosphor arc segments 14 ofequal size; however, more or fewer phosphor arc segments can be employed(including as few as a single optoceramic phosphor arc segment forming acomplete 360° circle). While the illustrative six optoceramic phosphorarc segments 14 are commonly illustrated and labeled, it will beappreciated that different optoceramic phosphor arc segments can includedifferent phosphors (for example, to emit phosphorescence of differentcolors), and/or there may be gaps between neighboring optoceramicphosphor arc segments. In operation the metal wheel 12 is rotated abouta central axis 16, for example, by connecting a motor shaft of a motor(not shown) to the central axis 16 and operating the motor to rotate thephosphor wheel 10 in an illustrated clockwise direction CW(counterclockwise rotation is also contemplated). Simultaneously withthe rotation, pump light is applied to a local region—this isdiagrammatically indicated in FIG. 1 by a laser 18 applying anillustrative pump laser beam spot L. As the metal wheel 12 rotates itcarries the optoceramic phosphor arc segments 14 in sequence intocontact with the laser beam L to emit phosphorescence. It will bereadily appreciated that by suitable selection of the phosphors of thevarious optoceramic phosphor arc segments 14, various color timesequences can be generated, such as red-green-blue-red-green-blue as maybe appropriate in a DLP display application.

With continuing reference to FIG. 1 and with further reference to FIG.2, Section S-S diagrammatically illustrates a cross-section of a portionof one optoceramic phosphor arc segment 14 and its solder attachment tothe metal wheel 12. FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of Section S-S (leftside) and a flow chart diagrammatically indicating principalmanufacturing operations (right side). It is noted that layerthicknesses are not drawn to scale in diagrammatic Section S-S of FIG. 1and its exploded view shown in FIG. 2. The optoceramic phosphor arcsegment 14 includes an optoceramic phosphor element 20 which may, by wayof non-limiting illustration, comprise a phosphor such as yttriumaluminum garnet (YAG), cerium-doped YAG (YAG:Ce), lutetium YAG (LuYAG),silicate-based phosphors, silicon-aluminum-oxynitride (SiAlON)phosphors, or so forth embedded in a ceramic material that is opticallytransmissive in the visible spectrum, such as polycrystalline alumina(Al₂O₃, PCA), lanthana-doped yttria (Y₂O₃—La₂O₃), yttrium aluminumgarnet (Y₃Al₅O₁₂), magnesium aluminate spinel (MgAl₂O₄), dysprosia(Dy₂O₃), aluminum oxynitride (Al₂₃O₂₇N₅), aluminum nitride (AlN), or soforth. See, e.g. Raukas et al., “Ceramic Phosphors for Light Conversionin LEDs”, ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology, vol. 2 no.2, pages R3168-76 (2013). In other embodiments, the phosphor element arcsegment 14 includes a phosphor element 20 which may, by way ofnon-limiting illustration, comprise a phosphor such as yttrium aluminumgarnet (YAG), cerium-doped YAG (YAG:Ce), lutetium YAG (LuYAG),silicate-based phosphors, silicon-aluminum-oxynitride (SiAlON)phosphors, or so forth embedded in a crystalline, glass, or other solidhost element made of a material that is optically transmissive in thevisible spectrum. For example, the host material can be a glass such asB270, BK7, P-SF68, P-SK57Q1, P-SK58A, P-BK7, or so forth.

The phosphor or phosphor dopant may be suitably chosen to emit thedesired emission light, e.g. green, yellow, red, or light combinationsuch as a white phosphor blend. The optoceramic phosphor element 20 maybe manufactured using any suitable process such as (by way ofnon-limiting illustration) sintering a mixture of powdered basematerial, binder, and stabilizer at elevated temperature. In otherembodiments, e.g. using a glass host material, the phosphor element 20may be manufactured using a suitable process such as (by way ofnon-limiting illustration) melting, molding, sintering or so forth.

In the illustrative examples, an optoceramic phosphor element is assumedfor illustration. Optionally, one or more optical coatings may beapplied to one or more surfaces of the optoceramic phosphor element 20.For illustrative purposes, the optoceramic phosphor arc segment 14includes a front-side anti-reflection (AR) coating 22 and a back-sidedielectric or metal or hybrid dielectric/metal mirror coating 24. (Theterm “front-side” as used herein denotes the side of the optoceramicphosphor element 20 at which the beam from the pump laser 18 or otherpump light beam impinges; while the term “back-side” as used hereindenotes the side of the optoceramic phosphor element 20 which isattached to the heat sink 12 (where, again, in the illustrative examplethe metal wheel 12 of the phosphor wheel 10 serves as the heat sink forthe optoceramic phosphor element 20). The AR coating 22 is designed tominimize reflection of the pump laser light impinging on the optoceramicphosphor element 20 while not impeding emission of the phosphorescence.The dielectric mirror coating 24 is designed to reflect thephosphorescence, and optionally is also designed to reflect the pumplaser light. As indicated in FIG. 2, these coatings may be applied bysputter deposition S1, although any other deposition technique suitablefor depositing the materials that make up these coatings 22, 24 can beused to perform the deposition(s) S1. It will also be appreciated thateither one, or both, of the optical coatings 22, 24 may be omitted,and/or other optical coatings can be provided such as awavelength-selective filter coating, a light-scattering coating, adeposited Fresnel lens, or so forth.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the optoceramic phosphorelement 20 and the dielectric or metal mirror coating 24 (if present)typically are not materials that are well-suited to solder bonding. Tofacilitate attachment of the optoceramic phosphor arc segment 14 to themetal wheel 12 by way of soldering, the optoceramic phosphor arc segment14 further includes a solderable metal stack 30 is deposited on the backside of the optoceramic phosphor element 20 (or, more particularly inthe illustrative example, on the back side of the dielectric mirrorcoating 24). The solderable metal stack 30 can include as few as asingle metal layer; in the illustrative embodiment, the solderable metalstack 30 includes: an adhesion layer 32 adjacent the element 20 of (byway of non-limiting illustrative example) chromium or titanium or atitanium-tungsten (TiW) alloy; a diffusion barrier layer 34 of (by wayof non-limiting illustrative example) nickel; and a solderable metallayer 36 of (by way of non-limiting illustrative example) gold. This ismerely an illustrative example, and numerous solderable solder stacksknown in the art for facilitating soldering of non-metallic elements toa metal element can be employed. By way of some further non-limitingillustrative examples: the solderable metal layer 36 could be silver,platinum, or another solder-compatible metal or metal sub-stack ratherthan gold; the nickel diffusion barrier layer can include a few percent(e.g. 5%) vanadium to reduce its magnetic properties so as to facilitatedeposition by magnetron sputtering; the diffusion barrier layer 34 canbe omitted entirely and/or the adhesion layer 32 can be omittedentirely; and so forth. As indicated in FIG. 2, the solderable metalstack 30 may, for example, be deposited on the back side of theoptoceramic phosphor element 20 (or, more particularly in theillustrative example, on the back side of the dielectric mirror coating24) in a metal deposition operation S2 by sputtering, plating, vacuummetal evaporation (e.g. using electron beam evaporation, thermalevaporation), or so forth, although any other deposition techniquesuitable for depositing the materials that make up these solderablemetal stack 30 can be used to perform the deposition(s) S1.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the optoceramic phosphor arcsegment 14 including the optoceramic phosphor element 20, the optionaloptical coatings 22, 24, and the solderable metal stack 30 is attachedto the metal substrate 12 (the metal wheel 12 in the illustrativeexample of FIG. 1) by a solder operation S3 which forms a solder bond40. In one suitable approach diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2, thesolder operation S3 entails placing the optoceramic phosphor arc segment14 onto the metal heat sink 12 with a solder preform 40 ₁ coated withsolder flux 40 ₂ interposed between the optoceramic phosphor arc segment14 and the metal heat sink 12. In another contemplated embodiment, thesolder flux is mixed into the solder preform rather than being coated onthe solder preform. A wide range of solder alloys can be used for thesolder preform 40 ₁ such as, by way of non-limiting example, alead/indium/silver solder alloy, a gold/tin solder alloy, a gold-silicon(AuSi) alloy, or so forth. This assembly is then heated to a solderingtemperature which is effective to cause the solder 40 ₁, 40 ₂ to formthe solder bond 40 between the solderable metal stack 30 and the metalheat sink 12. Other approaches are contemplated for performing thesolder operation S3, such as employing a solder gun to dispose pre-mixedsolder material and flux onto one or both of the surfaces to be solderedtogether and then pressing them together. For commercial manufacturing,the solder bonding operation S3 should be an automated process with highthroughput.

With brief reference to FIG. 3, in a variant embodiment the heat sinksubstrate 12 to which the solder attachment is to be made includes arecess 44 shaped and of sufficient depth to receive the solder preform40 ₁ coated with solder flux 40 ₂, so as to facilitate the solderoperation S3. The resulting device will then have the solder bond 40disposed in the recess 44. Optionally, the recess 44 may be deep enoughto receive a lower portion of the optoceramic phosphor arc segment 14 aswell, so that the resulting device has the solder bond 40 and a lowerportion of the optoceramic phosphor element 20 disposed in the recess44.

The illustrative embodiment pertains to the phosphor wheel 10 of FIG. 1.However, it will be appreciated that the disclosed approach for solderattachment of the optoceramic phosphor element 20 to a metal heat sink12 is equally applicable for attaching static phosphor elements to aheat sink. For example, in one application, the optoceramic phosphorelement 20 contains one or more phosphors that generate yellow oryellowish phosphorescence, and the pump laser beam is a blue laser beam.By appropriate tuning of the phosphor concentration in the optoceramicphosphor element 20 and the blue pump beam power, a mixture of blue pumplight and yellow or yellowish phosphorescence is generated thatapproximates white light. The optoceramic phosphor element may beemployed in any desired optical system. As one non-limiting example, astatic optoceramic phosphor element soldered to a heat sink as disclosedherein may be employed in conjunction with a light tunnel, where thehigh optical power in the light tunnel is accommodated by efficient heattransfer from the optoceramic phosphor element to the heat sink via thesolder bond as disclosed herein.

In experimental tests, optoceramic phosphor elements soldered to acopper heat sink have been tested, along with optoceramic phosphorelements attached to a copper heat sink by thermal paste for comparison.Some tested optoceramic phosphor elements included the front side ARcoating 22 and the back side dielectric mirror coating 24, with thelatter designed for a backside air interface. In tests, no cracking ofoptoceramic phosphor elements secured to the heat sink by soldering wasobserved for beam energies effective to heat the optoceramic phosphorelement up to and beyond the phosphor quenching point. By contrast,optoceramic phosphor elements secured to the heat sink by thermal pasteexhibited catastrophic cracking as pump laser power was increased, andthis cracking occurred well before the phosphor quenching point wasreached so that it limited thermal range of the device. Damage to the ARcoating 22 was also observed in the optoceramic phosphor elementsmounted using thermal paste, leading to a reduced laser induced damage(LITD) threshold as compared with optoceramic phosphor elements mountedusing the disclosed solder bond. It was also surprisingly observed thatthe back side dielectric mirror coating 24 designed for a backside airinterface provides substantial light output improvement in spite of thefact that the backside interface was to the solder bond 40, rather thanto the design-basis air (refractive index n=1). Without being limited toany particular theory of operation, it is believed that this may be dueto the multiple layers of the stack providing significant reflectionsuch that the fraction of light reaching the backside mirror/solderinterface is low.

These results demonstrate that the disclosed solder attachment approachenables construction of a passive light conversion device comprising anoptoceramic phosphor element 20 comprising one or more phosphorsembedded in a ceramic host, a metal heat sink 12, and a solder bond 40attaching the optoceramic phosphor element 20 to the metal heat sink 12,which can operate with a pump beam energy of any value up to thephosphor quenching point without the optoceramic phosphor element 20undergoing cracking. By contrast, the conventional thermal pasteattachment resulted in catastrophic cracking well below the phosphorquenching point thereby limiting device performance. It is noted thatthe disclosed solder bond is providing improved device performance forpassive optical elements which in many embodiments include no electricalor electronic components.

It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirablycombined into many other different systems or applications. It will befurther appreciated that various presently unforeseen or unanticipatedalternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may besubsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended tobe encompassed by the following claims.

1. A light conversion device comprising: an optoceramic phosphor elementcomprising one or more phosphors embedded in a ceramic host; a metalheat sink; and a solder bond attaching the optoceramic phosphor elementto the metal heat sink.
 2. The light conversion device of claim 1wherein the light conversion device is a static light conversion deviceor a phosphor wheel.
 3. The light conversion device of claim 1 furthercomprising: a mirror coating disposed on a back side of the optoceramicphosphor element between the optoceramic phosphor element and the solderbond.
 4. The light conversion device of claim 3 wherein the mirror is adielectric mirror designed to operate with a backside air interface. 5.The light conversion device of claim 3 further comprising: a solderablemetal stack including one or more metal layers disposed on the mirrorcoating between the mirror coating and the solder bond; wherein thesolder bond attaches to the solderable metal stack.
 6. The lightconversion device of claim 1 further comprising: a solderable metalstack including one or more metal layers disposed on a back side of theoptoceramic phosphor element between the optoceramic phosphor elementand the solder bond; wherein the solder bond attaches to the solderablemetal stack.
 7. The light conversion device of claim 6 wherein thesolderable metal stack comprises one of: a chromium/nickel/gold layerstack in which the solder bond attaches to the gold layer; atitanium/nickel/gold layer stack in which the solder bond attaches tothe gold layer; a chromium/nickel/silver layer stack in which the solderbond attaches to the silver layer; and a titanium/nickel/silver layerstack in which the solder bond attaches to the silver layer.
 8. Thelight conversion device of claim 7 wherein the nickel layer of thesolderable metal stack includes vanadium.
 9. The light conversion deviceof claim 1 wherein the metal heat sink includes a recess within whichthe solder bond is disposed.
 10. The light conversion device of claim 9wherein a lower portion of the optoceramic phosphor element is alsodisposed within the recess of the heat sink.
 11. The light conversiondevice of claim 1 wherein the optoceramic phosphor element does notundergo cracking in response to an applied light beam with beam energyeffective to heat the optoceramic phosphor element to the phosphorquenching point.
 12. A light generator comprising: a light conversiondevice as set forth in claim 1; and a light source arranged to apply alight beam to the light conversion element; wherein the optoceramicphosphor element does not undergo cracking in response to the lightsource applying a light beam of beam energy effective to heat theoptoceramic phosphor element to the phosphor quenching point.
 13. Alight conversion device comprising: a phosphor element comprising one ormore phosphors embedded in a solid host element; a metal heat sink; anda solder bond attaching the phosphor element to the metal heat sink. 14.The light conversion device of claim 13 wherein the light conversiondevice is a static light conversion device or a phosphor wheel.
 15. Thelight conversion device of claim 13 further comprising: a mirror coatingdisposed on a back side of the phosphor element between the phosphorelement and the solder bond.
 16. The light conversion device of claim 15wherein the mirror is a dielectric mirror designed to operate with abackside air interface.
 17. The light conversion device of claim 15further comprising: a solderable metal stack including one or more metallayers disposed on the mirror coating between the mirror coating and thesolder bond; wherein the solder bond attaches to the solderable metalstack.
 18. The light conversion device of claim 13 further comprising: asolderable metal stack including one or more metal layers disposed on aback side of the phosphor element between the phosphor element and thesolder bond; wherein the solder bond attaches to the solderable metalstack.
 19. The light conversion device of claim 18 wherein thesolderable metal stack comprises one of: a chromium/nickel/gold layerstack in which the solder bond attaches to the gold layer; atitanium/nickel/gold layer stack in which the solder bond attaches tothe gold layer; a chromium/nickel/silver layer stack in which the solderbond attaches to the silver layer; and a titanium/nickel/silver layerstack in which the solder bond attaches to the silver layer.
 20. Thelight conversion device of claim 19 wherein the nickel layer of thesolderable metal stack includes vanadium.
 21. The light conversiondevice of claim 13 wherein the metal heat sink includes a recess withinwhich the solder bond is disposed.
 22. The light conversion device ofclaim 21 wherein a lower portion of the phosphor element is alsodisposed within the recess of the heat sink.
 23. The light conversiondevice of claim 13 wherein the phosphor element comprises one or morephosphors embedded in a solid glass host element.
 24. The lightconversion device of claim 23 wherein the solid glass host elementcomprises B270, BK7, P-SF68, P-SK57Q1, P-SK58A, or P-BK7.
 25. A lightgenerator comprising: a light conversion device as set forth in claim13; and a light source arranged to apply a light beam to the lightconversion element; wherein the optoceramic phosphor element does notundergo cracking in response to the light source applying a light beamof beam energy effective to heat the optoceramic phosphor element to thephosphor quenching point.
 26. A method of fabricating a light conversiondevice comprising: depositing a solderable metal stack on a back side ofan optoceramic phosphor element comprising one or more phosphorsembedded in a ceramic host; and attaching the optoceramic phosphorelement to a metal heat sink by soldering the solderable metal stack tothe heat sink.
 27. The method of claim 26 further comprising: prior todepositing the solderable metal stack on the back side of theoptoceramic phosphor element, depositing a dielectric mirror coating onthe back side of the optoceramic phosphor element whereby the solderablemetal stack is deposited on the dielectric mirror coating.
 28. Themethod of claim 26 wherein the depositing of the solderable metal stackon the back side of the optoceramic phosphor element includes:depositing a chromium or titanium layer onto the back side of theoptoceramic phosphor element or onto a dielectric mirror coatingdisposed on the back side of the optoceramic phosphor element;depositing a nickel layer on the chromium or titanium layer; anddepositing a silver, platinum, or gold layer on the nickel layer. 29.The method of claim 28 wherein the nickel layer includes vanadium. 30.The method of claim 26 wherein the depositing of the solderable metalstack on the back side of the optoceramic phosphor element includes:depositing a solderable silver, platinum, or gold layer on the nickellayer; wherein the soldering comprises soldering the solderable silver,platinum, or gold layer to the heat sink.
 31. The method of claim 26wherein the attaching comprises: disposing the optoceramic phosphorelement onto the metal heat sink with a solder preform interposedbetween the optoceramic phosphor element and the metal heat sink tocreate an assembly; and heating the assembly to a soldering temperaturewhich is effective to cause the solder preform to form a solder bondbetween the solderable metal stack and the metal heat sink.
 32. Themethod of claim 31 wherein the solder preform includes solder fluxcoated onto or mixed into the solder preform.
 33. The method of claim 31wherein the solder preform comprises a lead/indium/silver solder alloyor a gold/tin solder alloy.
 34. A method of fabricating a lightconversion device comprising: depositing a solderable metal stack on aback side of a phosphor element comprising one or more phosphorsembedded in a solid host element; and attaching the phosphor element toa metal heat sink by soldering the solderable metal stack to the heatsink.
 35. The method of claim 34 further comprising: prior to depositingthe solderable metal stack on the back side of the phosphor element,depositing a dielectric mirror coating on the back side of the phosphorelement whereby the solderable metal stack is deposited on thedielectric mirror coating.
 36. The method of claim 34 wherein thedepositing of the solderable metal stack on the back side of thephosphor element includes: depositing a chromium or titanium layer ontothe back side of the phosphor element or onto a dielectric mirrorcoating disposed on the back side of the phosphor element; depositing anickel layer on the chromium or titanium layer; and depositing a silver,platinum, or gold layer on the nickel layer.
 37. The method of claim 33wherein the depositing of the solderable metal stack on the back side ofthe phosphor element includes: depositing a solderable silver, platinum,or gold layer on the nickel layer; wherein the soldering comprisessoldering the solderable silver, platinum, or gold layer to the heatsink.
 38. The method of claim 33 wherein the attaching comprises:disposing the phosphor element onto the metal heat sink with a solderpreform interposed between the phosphor element and the metal heat sinkto create an assembly; and heating the assembly to a solderingtemperature which is effective to cause the solder preform to form asolder bond between the solderable metal stack and the metal heat sink.39. The method of claim 38 wherein the solder preform includes solderflux coated onto or mixed into the solder preform.